Sunday Morning
by xoxonessie
Summary: "To anyone else, this may have looked like a regular, casual - boring even - Sunday morning, but to Ziva, it was just so much more than that. It was everything she had ever wanted, everything she had fought for and didn't dare to even think she could have at some point." Future AU (Hopefully? Kind of? I don't even know anymore!)


**Sunday Morning**

The sun was already up and shining when Ziva woke up on that first autumn Sunday. It had always been her favourite time of year and the weather had been unusually warm this year, which made her love it even more. She pushed her hair out of her face and lazily extended an arm on her right side where her husband was supposed to be only to find out that he was no longer there. The distant clatter that seemed to come from the kitchen and the soft sound from the TV left little to no doubt as to where he had gone. She pushed herself out of the bed, straightened her cotton pajama pants and made her way bare feet to the living-room.

She stopped in the doorframe as her eyes adjusted to the sudden blinding light of the sunbathed area. Her breath caught and she leaned on the wall for support. No matter how many times she walked into the same scene, it never failed to make her heart skip a beat.

Tony was sitting on their couch, a cup of hot coffee in his hands, watching in silence as Tali was eating breakfast on the coffee table, completely enthralled by the Disney movie playing on the screen in front of her, humming along the upbeat music and moving her head from side to side in rhythm. The sun coming through the large windowpane created some sort of golden halo around them and Ziva thought for a second that she must have been dreaming.

They had been doing this family thing for 2 years now and it had taken a lot of adjustment and patience to get there. The beginnings were hard, on all of them, as tears had been shed, blame had been placed, apologies had been said and forgiveness had been granted. If she was being honest, she still wondered sometimes how they had made it through. But they had somehow, whether it was the fruit of a real effort on their part, pure luck, or the mysterious – and miraculous - workings of fate, and she could safely say at this point that she wouldn't have it any other way. To anyone else, this may have looked like a regular, casual - boring even - Sunday morning, but to Ziva, it was just so much more than that. It was everything she had ever wanted, everything she had fought for and didn't dare to even think she could have at some point. It was the two loves of her life, her something permanent, her lifeline, her solace, her redemption. The one thing she had promised herself to never take for granted.

"Morning Ima!" Tali's cheerful greeting took her out of her reverie. Ziva smiled and walked to her daughter, dropping a kiss on top of her messy brown curls, lingering there just a second longer than necessary, revelling in the heavenly smell of her little girl.

"Good morning my love. Did you sleep well?" Tali nodded absent-mindedly, her focus already back on the TV, and took another spoonful of cereals into her mouth.

Ziva walked back to stand behind the couch and wrapped her arms around Tony's neck, giving him a peck on the cheek, and let the side of her face to rest against his. His light stubble grazed against her skin, but she had to admit she loved that look on him too much to complain about it.

"Who got up first this time?"

"You wouldn't ask that if you'd gone to the kitchen first."

Ziva laughed knowingly. Their 7-year-old had recently taken up the habit of waking up early and preparing her own breakfast, which always ended up in their kitchen looking like a landmine field and it drove Tony absolutely crazy. "She's lucky she's cute", he added as if reading Ziva's mind about his inability to stay mad at their daughter for more than 5 seconds.

Ziva unclasped her arms from around him and went to sit down next to him, propping her legs over his left thigh, and dropping her head to rest on his shoulder.

"Hey." His whisper made her look up. "Don't _I_ get a good morning kiss?" His grin was mesmerizing, she thought, and definitely irresistible.

"All you have to do is ask." Ziva stretched her neck upwards with the intention of meeting his demand but he pulled back and squinted at her, looking falsely offended.

"Since when do I _have_ to ask?"

Ziva laughed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at him, before using her arm that wasn't stuck between them to pull his head back towards her and into a loving kiss.

"Better?" she asked when they parted, well aware of the way her heart was racing in her chest and feeling his beating just as fast through the fabric of their shirts.

"Much." He dropped another quick kiss on her lips and put his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. She snuggled deeper into his embrace and resumed her position, her head tucked in the crook of his neck, lulled by the regular rise and fall of his chest and a comfortable silence barely troubled by the background movie still playing. This right there felt like Heaven to her and she never wanted to go anywhere ever again.

Tali's unexpected burst of laughter made them both start, and they laughed too. The little girl turned her head towards her parents as if suddenly realizing they had been there all along, and in a swift movement, came crashing down on them, squeezing herself between them until they all formed what probably resembled a single giant mass of intertwined pyjama-clad limbs. Fused together by something stronger than everything life had ever thrown at them. In that moment, Ziva felt as if they were inseparable.

Indivisible.

Invincible.


End file.
